Red Bowls...2012 & Freshly Fired in 2013

These are porcelain, hand formed bowls that I've been making at Lill Street. The pieces on white are 'footed' and the ones on black have no feet. Shipping & Tax (in ILLINOIS) will apply to each sale. Just call or email if you would like to purchase, I can send you a paypal invoice, you can mail me a check or call with a credit card.

...missing my girl.

Missing my sweet girl, Izzy...the dog that launched a thousand paintings, and even a few sculptures. I said goodbye to her a year ago today.

...some things I've been working on in clay...

carved this one on my birthday.

april was tough this year.

carved this back in january...did i mention our house is for sale?

recent works in clay...

I continue to take Corinne Peterson's "Dreams, Myths & Pillars" class at Lill Street, it's a form of therapy for me - and her class is always filled with the most interesting and genuine souls. The piece at the top is about as close to a pillar as I will probably get, there is a 3rd component that the top 2 pieces will stand on. Photo coming soon, once it's all glazed. The  other 2 pieces, tiles that I carved, the middle glazed with white and the bottom one still wet, with slip that I carved directly on. Love this carving process. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend, it was a sunny day in Chicago with lots of people out and about, and popping into the studio. I worked on commissions, most of the day.

Trucks + Grain + Women

My trucks have finally found utility...I will have several on display at the Women In Grains Show...(a Coast to Coast Perspective) opening this Friday, July 16th at the Woolen Mills Gallery in Reedsburg, WI. This gallery is part of the Worm Farm Institute which is "dedicated to integrating culture and agriculture, an evolving laboratory of the arts and
ecology and fertile ground for creative work." The show was curated by fellow artist/friend and notorious CORN LADY, Cathi Bouzide and encompasses the work of 18 women from around the country...there will even be a limited edition Women in Grains Beer microbrewed by Cathi's husband Paul. Should be a fun filled and very interesting evening!

 
When invited to participate, I decided to use my trucks. My initial hope
was to actually plant grain in the beds of them, this required that I
work outside of my comfort level and build bigger rigs. It was
challenging but I learned a lot and had new ideas along the way. Time
and circumstances prevented my use of live plants so I opted to fill
them with grain: corn, oats, rice, rye, buffalo grass and black popcorn.
Most of which were brought to me from the farm of artist, Dan
Brinkmeier in Mount Carroll. Still wondering why I'm in a show called
Women in Grains? Read my statement below...

 

 

 

artist statement

Trucks started showing up in my work in 2007, shortly after moving to a new neighborhood not far from the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago. The sound of the trucks lull me to sleep at night and once the leaves fall, I see the trucks up there on that ribbon of elevated expressway every time I walk out my front door to walk the dogs.

I actually like the sound these trucks make and I have a fascination with their scale and design. Growing up in quiet small town Sparta, Wisconsin, the sounds of the highway lulled me to sleep at night and reminded me that there was a whole other world out there full of people traveling and venturing to other places. I also love road trips, so trucks are a part of my visual landscape which I associate with the freedom and vistas of the open road.

So how do these things tie in with ‘Women in Grains’? I feel a certain grain connection due to my experiences at the Fields Project Artist Residency in rural Oregon, Illinois, not only painting images of the farms and fields, but actually making one of my images into an 11 acre field sculpture. I also consume my fair share of grains and in the end, no matter what I just said: trucks carry grain.

Snicker gets his wings...

 

My dog sculpture of Snicker is complete...came out pretty well with the exception of a hairline crack across the base...oh the joys of working with clay! Luckily there are some great epoxy products out there that may save the day if it decides to split. This piece is about 23" long and 13" high. Follow the link for the story behind this piece.

Growing Trucks...

My goal is to continuously make the next one bigger than the last, until our spring session ends in late May. These will, hopefully, soon be growing things in their beds...stay tuned to see them evolve and for more info about the "Women in Grains Show" in July.

...with wings

As I drove to clay class Monday night I decided this dog was asking for wings but being the neurotic artist, I worried it would hasten the departure of sixteen year old Izzy...then thought even if it does, maybe this means I'll be giving her permission to go, in case she's just been sticking around for me. (I know...welcome to the emotional crazy world of my mind and heart!)Then Wednesday my Mom sent me an email regarding the previous post commenting that the dog looked like Snicker...her beloved big yellow lab that passed away over the summer...and I realized right away it was Snicker and not Izzy and how appropriate those wings were...and that's the reason everyone who saw the sculpture called it a 'he' including me. So this is Snick. My Christmas gift to her and Bill is a portrait of him that I have yet to create but I gave them some drawings as a preview of my ideas: Snick was not the only family dog to go last year, Willie my brother's dog (who I'm also working on a portrait of) and 2 dogs that belong to my Mom's stepchildren's families Pretty Boy and Nimush the 3 legged dog. That's a lot of new doggie angels frolicking in heaven...and many broken hearts they left behind. Mom, a hospice social worker, has been on me for awhile to design pet loss sympathy cards, and/or a book. Perhaps we will pen one together, but not while my Izzerloo is still wagging her tail on this earth...and I'm happy to say she has been doing pretty darn well these past few months and doesn't look to be taking on wings any time soon.

My wonderful Mom with Snicker, the 'Patron Saint of Stick Chewing' last spring.